Grand Strand Clock Repair Services

To maintain its value and to ensure its continuing operation, your mechanical clock should be serviced every few years. We recommend that it gets oiled every 4 years and cleaned every 8 years.

No Shortcuts – Movement overhauls

This is the most common service for a mechanical clock. The steps involved are:

Remove the movement from the case.

Carefully examine the movement for excessive wear and other potential problems.

Fully disassemble the movement.

Completely clean the movement, including an ultrasonic bath.

Polish pivots and bush pivot holes. (see Note)

Reassemble and lubricate the movement.

Regulate.

“Beware of clock repairmen who take shortcuts with these procedures”

Service Notes:

Installing bushings – The holes in which the “pivots” (ends of the gear shafts) spin can become worn. New bushings are installed so that proper gear alignment and reduced operating friction are restored.

Replacing springs – Mainsprings do not last forever. Even when they haven’t yet snapped, they can become “set,” losing their power to run the clock.

Regulating – Every effort is made to adjust your clock for its most accurate timekeeping over the course of its winding cycle (for example, daily or weekly). Many things can affect that adjustment once the clock is placed back in your home.

The most important of these in a pendulum-regulated clock is leveling. Your clock will be adjusted to run on a level surface. It will be “in beat,” meaning that the “tick” and “tock” will be evenly spaced. If your pendulum clock is not level at home, it will be out of beat and timekeeping will be affected.

Temperature can affect timing by lengthening or shortening the pendulum, or affecting the properties of balance springs.

In a spring driven clock, it is not uncommon for there to be variations in timekeeping. Over the course of the spring’s unwinding, the amount of power delivered to a movement can vary widely.

Nearly every clock has an easy way to adjust its timing. We will go over adjustment with you when the clock is delivered.

Grandfather clocks

For grandfather clocks (and other clocks too large or heavy to move), we’ll come to your home, remove the movement, weights and pendulum, and bring them back to our shop for repairs if overhauling is necessary. When completed, we return and re-install the movement. Beware of repairmen who say they can do a proper job of cleaning and oiling a movement in the home!